Comparison Of VO2max Between A Novel Rowing Test And Treadmill Test In Recreational Rowers

Graded exercise testing on a treadmill is commonly used as an effective exercise mode to determine V̇O2max in healthy populations. There is limited research using graded exercise testing on a rowing ergometer as an alternative mode to determine V̇O2max. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare measurements of V̇O2max between a novel testing protocol on a rowing ergometer and an established testing protocol on a treadmill in a group of recreational rowers. METHODS: Subjects included 5 male and 5 female experienced (2+ yrs) recreational rowers (23-42 y/o) who participated in 2 days of maximal exercise testing, 1 week apart. Subjects completed a treadmill test utilizing the Costill-Fox protocol and a novel rowing ergometer test utilizing the Concept2 RowErg® with the order of testing randomized for the subjects. Prior to rowing ergometer testing, subjects completed a 3-minute self-paced warm up. The novel rowing ergometer test commenced with the drag factor set at 130 and the first stage at 150 watts for males and 120 watts for females. The test increased 30 watts every 2 minutes until the subject could no longer continuously hold the prescribed wattage. Continuous measurements of heart rate and V̇O2 were taken during all exercise tests. V̇O2 was recorded as 15-sec averages. RPE was recorded at the end of each stage. A paired samples t test was used to compare differences in V̇O2max between exercise modalities. RESULTS: Mean measured V̇O2max was 44.5 ± 6.7 mL·kg-1·min-1 and 42.1 ± 5.4 ml·kg-1·min-1 for the treadmill and rowing ergometer respectively. There was a statistically significant difference (p = .028) in V̇O2max between the treadmill and the novel rowing ergometer protocols. CONCLUSION: Although the treadmill test yielded a statistically significant higher V̇O2max when compared with the rowing ergometer test, the difference in the mean V̇O2max was 2.4 ml·kg-1·min-1 demonstrating that this novel rowing ergometer protocol may be an acceptable valid exercise testing mode for populations who utilize rowing as an exercise modality. Continued testing on a larger population is warranted.